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Maybe I didn’t need to be saved from my abusive ex any longer, but I still felt like I was letting that girl down who had needed it. The shop was just a shop. It wasn’t something that could eventually pay double the rent to get the prime real estate. It wasn’t a conglomerate that was going to take over the world. And I hadn’t realized how much I’d been relying on that dream until it felt like it was gone.
It would be easier. I could be here in Savannah with Ash. And that was that.
I sighed and flopped backward on the bed. I didn’t even hear the front door open until my name was called and feet stomped up the stairs.
“There you are,” Ash said with a smile. His eyes crawled down my mostly naked body. “While I am here for this attire, why aren’t you dressed?”
“The world is ending.”
Ash laughed. “Is that so?”
“I got a call from Nolan,” I said, meeting his eyes. “He had someone else offer double to take my spot.”
Ash’s jaw dropped open. “And he took it?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
He didn’t dispute it right away, but I could see that he wanted to. We both knew that he wouldn’t though. If someone was willing to pay that much money, no one was going to tell them no.
“I’ll call him,” he growled.
“Don’t bother.”
“Mia …”
“It’s done, Ash. I can’t change how it happened, but it’s over. I don’t want you to ruin your friendship over this.”
“Well, we’ll figure something else out then. We can find a place here or somewhere in Charleston. He has other properties.”
A tear came to my eye, and I hiccupped. “Fuck, Ash, I thought this was it.”
“Oh, Mia.” He sank onto the bed and pulled me into him. “This isn’t the end for you or for the expansion of the boutique. I know you’re going to go off and do amazing things.”
I shook my head. “Maybe I’m as worthless as I thought.”
He stilled. “Why would you say that?”
“I only ever get things because I know people in power. My dad, Camden, you.”
“Me?”
“You got me the interview with Holden.”
“And that had nothing to do with anything.”
“You made the call,” I reminded him. “I must not have been good enough or he would have said yes immediately before looking at other offers.”
“You can’t blame yourself for any of it. It’s business. It didn’t work out. That hardly makes you worthless. I’ve never heard you talk like that.”
I dabbed at my eyes. “I just … I don’t know how to explain.”
“Sit up. Talk to me.”
I did as he said, looking into those big blue eyes. The ones that were all mine. The ones that should have been enough for all of this. But he didn’t know that, some days, I was holding myself together with duct tape, string, and gum.
“Do you remember when you came to see me after your dad was sick?”
His face clouded. “Yes.”
“And how upset Mark was?”
“I remember him being a douchebag and worrying that he’d hurt you.” He suddenly looked terrified. “Did he?”
“Physically … no.”
“Fuck.”
“It was months of him belittling me. And it sounds so ridiculous because I should have just left him. He wasn’t always like that, and then by the time it got as bad as it did, I was in so deep.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
I shook my head, recoiling from him at that thought. “He hated you. We fought about you constantly.”
“Of course he hated me, but I never knew why. You never talked to me.”
“I know,” I whispered. “But I told him everything before we dated and he hated you so much. He thought I still loved you. He went through my phone to see if we’d been messaging. He accused me of cheating. The two times we saw you, it was like my everything shut down.”
Ash took my hand in his. “I had no idea. Amelia, I wish I had been there … been better.”
“It wasn’t your fault. It was his. All his. And no one believed me. But anyway, I left a week after you were here. For me, it was like Charleston was my escape plan. I was going to leave it all behind and move there to get away. The brilliant plan was the reason I had the gall to leave him.”
“Ah,” he said, finally understanding. “And now, it’s gone. Your escape route just closed.”
“And I don’t need to escape you,” I said quickly. “Obviously.”
“I don’t think you do.”
“It just feels like everything shrank, and there’s no way to get away. Even though I want to be here with you.”
“You don’t have to explain.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed them. “I love you. I understand your distress. I wish I could kill Mark Armstrong for ever making the strong, beautiful woman I love feel this way. But it’s not the end. You can still do everything you want, and I’ll be here every step of the way.”
